Best I Never Had
by maddiegirl56
Summary: /Okay, he couldn't deny that he liked her anymore. But it wasn't like this had never happened before. A guy's best friend-or brother-crushing on his girlfriend has been a teenage horror story since the beginning of time. But it still sucked.\ Or where a short taxi ride turns Ross's world upside down. Raura One-Shot


**So, I wrote this a while ago and never posted it, but then my friend Cadence told me I should so...here it is! I'm not sure how I feel about it, but...yeah... BUT OMSTARS TWO OF MY STORIES WERE ON THE AUSTIN AND ALLY FANFIC RECOMENDED TWITTER AHHHHHH! Anyways, I don't own anything you recognize, so READ ON!**

* * *

Laura looked up at her boyfriend with a grin on her face. His hazel eyes twinkled with mischief; his blonde hair was sticking up everywhere. He had just finished a concert, and even though he was sweaty and tired and wanted nothing more than to take a shower and sleep for three days, he was grinning right back down at her.

"You did great, just like always," she told him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I know," he replied with a smirk. "Just kidding. Thanks, Laur." His arms found their way around her waist. They were leaning in, both of their eyes closing, when…

"You know, as much as I'd love to see you two make out-and really, I would-we're leaving. It's already late enough, and all of us have to get up early tomorrow," her boyfriend's brother said, popping up behind her. She rolled her eyes and turned around.

"You've never been one for timing, have you, Ross?" she said.

"No, I have not. And remember how I said I'd love to see you make out with my brother? Yeah, I lied."

"Jealous?" Riker teased, hugging Laura from behind.

"Oh yeah, totally," Ross replied sarcastically.

"Hey!" Laura exclaimed.

"Dude, you know what I mean."

"Uh-huh," the brunette replied.

"And, I also don't want the image of your lips on my brother's in my head when they're on mine tomorrow at work. Talk about awkward." Ross shuddered.

"Ha-ha," Riker said, rolling his eyes.

"Talk about unprofessional," Laura said, leaning back against Riker's chest.

"I am _very _professional!" Ross exclaimed defensively.

"Ross, you know you're one of my best friends, but no. You are not professional," Laura told him.

"Gosh, bash on Ross day, is it?" the younger blonde asked.

"Every day is bash on Ross day," his brother replied. Laura chuckled.

"Aw… At least you finally cut your hair!" she exclaimed.

"I only did it for the show. I like my long hair."

"No one else does," Riker told him.

"Why does everyone hate me?!" Ross exclaimed dramatically before storming off to his dressing room to grab his guitar before they left.

A few seconds later, Laura walked in.

"You're not _actually _upset, are you?" she asked, leaning against the door frame. Ross chuckled as he put his guitar in its case.

"No, Laur. I'm not actually upset."

"Good," she said, sounding relieved.

"Where's Riker?"

"Getting in the car," she replied. "I'm waiting for my cab to come."

"Why didn't you drive?"

"Vanessa and my mom are working late tonight, so they both have the cars."

"So you paid for a cab _just _to come support your boyfriend. Talk about supportive, dude." He raised his hand for a high-five.

"You forgot to mention my _best _friend," she reminded him, clapping her hand against his. "And their family." He smiled.

"Well, as your best friend, I'll wait with you for the cab and then have the driver take me home," he said.

"You don't have to, Ross."

"I want to," he replied. "You spend so much time with my brother, I need some Laura time for myself." She chuckled.

"That's what work is for."

"No, 'cause then I have to share you with everyone. C'mon, when's the last time we hung out, just the two of us?" he asked.

"Alright, it _has _been a while," she agreed. "Too long for best friends." He grinned.

"Exactly." He sent a quick text to his family, telling them he was accompanying Laura, and got a response telling him they were leaving. "C'mon, let's go outside and wait."

Together, the pair walked to the back of the venue to wait for the taxi to come.

"You did great tonight, too, Ross," Laura told him when they got outside. She shivered in the chilly winter air.

"Thanks," he replied. He gave her one look and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Neither of them thought anything of it because, well, she had a boyfriend.

"You're like a human heater, you know," she said, relishing in the warmth radiating off the boy's body. He chuckled and nodded.

"I've heard." He tilted his head up to look at the sky. "I wonder how many stars we'd be able to see if all the city's lights were off, and if there was no pollution in the air." She looked up at the few stars that were visible.

"Lots."

"I'd give anything to be able to see that." She nodded.

"Me, too."

"It'd also be cool to go back to that first day on set, y'know? The four of us hardly knew each other, but we just…clicked." She nodded again.

"Yeah, like it was meant to be." He chuckled.

"Yeah. I can't believe we were _fifteen_. Like, that's young, dude." She laughed and nodded. "I watched the first episode the other night. It was, like, midnight and, I dunno, I just felt like watching it. It feels like we filmed that episode yesterday."

"And now we're halfway through season four."

"The last season," he added. "And then it'll be over. Like, a part of us will just…_die_."

"Let's not think about that," she said.

Just then, they were blinded by the headlights of a taxi. Shielding their eyes from the light, they waited for it to stop in front of them. Ross opened the door for his friend.

"Ladies first," he told her, gesturing to the car. She chuckled and got in. He followed suit.

"You know, this isn't really much of a 'hang-out,'" Laura said. She gave the taxi driver her address and he started driving.

"Which is why you should hang out with me, too, and not just Riker," he told her.

"Yeah…yeah, I should," she agreed, sounding guilty.

"Don't be guilty for being happy, dude. Just try making a little Ross time, if you can manage," he said. She chuckled.

"I can definitely manage." He grinned. "So, what-whoa!" Laura exclaimed.

The taxi had taken a sharp turn and Laura was thrown across the seat into Ross's lap.

"Hi, there," he said as he caught her. She giggled-did she sound _nervous_?-and blushed a little.

"Guess I forgot a seatbelt…" He nodded.

"Guess you did." His heart beat a bit faster at the closeness, and his stomach fluttered nervously.

Wait, _what_?

He decided to ignore it and he let Laura crawl off his lap and into her seat. She put on her seatbelt, chuckling a little at her forgetfulness.

Meanwhile, Ross was missing the feeling of Laura in his lap. Okay, that sounded a little dirtier than he intended, but he enjoyed holding her.

No. No, no, no, no, no, no, _no_. Ross _refused _to accept that what he just thought was true.

But Laura in that dress…and honestly, who _wouldn't _want to hold someone so adorable and petite?

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Laura's phone fell on the floor of the car. He reached down to grab it for her, but she reached as well. Their hands touched and he could've sworn he received a static shock, but Laura showed no evidence that she felt the shock, too. So that could mean one of two things. Ross was either wrong, or he had felt a _different _kind of shock.

He jerked his hand away and scooted as far away from her in the small taxi as he could, eyes wide and terrified.

"Um…you okay, Ross?" Laura asked, putting her phone back into her clutch purse. She placed a comforting hand on his arm, and he jerked it away again.

"Yeah! Yeah, I'm, uh, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be? I'm with my best friend!" he exclaimed, reminding himself that she was his best girl friend, and she was his brother's _girlfriend_.

"You look like you've just seen a ghost. You're sure you're okay?" She reached out to touch his arm again, and he tried to scoot away more, but he ended up just hitting his head on the ceiling of the cab. "Ross, you're scaring me."

"I'm fine!"

Frowning, Laura let her arm drop to her side. Ross relaxed and sat normal in his seat again.

Or, he tried to.

As much as he tried, he couldn't get his leg to stop bouncing. He tapped his fingers on his thigh with one hand, and the other was curled into a fist, resting on his bouncing leg. His heart was pounding and his stomach was in knots and his mind was taking a nice little stroll into forbidden territory.

Wait, let's rephrase that.

His mind was taking a nice little _race _into forbidden territory. He couldn't focus on anything for more than a few seconds. Image after image after image of Laura flashed through his head like lightning. He could _not _be thinking about her like that. She had a _boyfriend_. And her boyfriend was his _brother_. What was getting into him?!

Then came the images of _them_. Some he knew never even happened. Sure, there were images of them hanging out, laughing, just being the best friends they were. He didn't mind those. There was nothing wrong with them. Just memories of what they've done together. As friends.

If only he was so lucky to keep those innocent thoughts in his head. Soon, other images came. Images of them at nice restaurants, at movies, on picnics. Images of them cuddling and holding hands and hugging longer than average. And images of them kissing. Gentle, sweet kisses. Heated, passionate ones.

_**No**_**. **He pushed those thoughts away as fast as he could, leg still bouncing, fingers still tapping, fist still clenched so hard he was sure his nails would draw blood.

"Ross," Laura said sternly, placing a hand on his knee to stop him from bouncing his leg. He stopped, looking down at her hand like it was the most evil thing in the world. He swallowed hard.

"Laura."

"What has gotten into you?!"

"I was wondering that for myself," he told her. "Um, don't worry about me. I'm probably just exhausted. So, tell me how you and Riker are doing."

"Okay…Well, we're _really_ happy," she said with a smile. He closed his eyes and nodded to himself. She was happy with Riker. Riker was happy with her. He wanted both of them happy. "He's so sweet, and I like how tall he is, and I dunno…There's just something about him." This was probably just because he was tired and not thinking straight.

"That's great," he said, his voice cracking.

"Yeah," she agreed.

"We're here," the taxi driver said. Laura started pulling out money, but Ross had already handed the man what was due.

"What're you doing?"

"Paying for my best friend's ride home," Ross said in a 'duh' tone. She chuckled.

"Thanks, Ross," she said with one of her winning smiles. He swallowed hard while she got out of the taxi.

Ross gave the taxi driver his own address and focused on anything except Laura. He decided to go over his lines for _Austin & Ally _in his head.

_Ally, you know all I want is you, _he thought. Then his mind nearly stopped working. They kissed next.

He had to _kiss her _tomorrow. How could he kiss her after all this? He was ninety percent sure he liked her now, but he was so confused and exhausted that he had no idea _what _he was feeling.

He wondered if Laura had felt _anything _during that taxi ride. Definitely not. She had a boyfriend. Has he mentioned that boyfriend was his brother? Yeah, so she _definitely _hadn't felt anything. That hurt his heart a bit.

Okay, he couldn't deny that he liked her anymore. But it wasn't like this had never happened before. A guy's best friend-or brother-crushing on his girlfriend has been a teenage horror story since the beginning of time. But it still sucked.

"We're here," the taxi driver announced.

"Thank you," Ross said, giving him the correct amount of money and getting out of the cab. He watched as it drove away before walking in his house.

"Took you long enough," Riker said, clapping him on the back.

"Yeah," Ross said.

"Laura probably ranted about me the whole way home," he joked.

"Yeah, mmhm…" Ross replied.

"Dude, you okay? You look like you just foresaw your execution." Ross nodded and started walking away from Riker.

"Maybe 'cause I think I did," he muttered under his breath.

* * *

The next day at work, Ross tried to put off the kiss scene as long as he could. He purposely messed up a few times in the scenes before it, said something funny to make the other cast members laugh during the scene, sneezed a bunch of times, took a while in the bathroom, and claimed to have 'issues' when trying to change into his wardrobe.

Still, the kiss scene had to come at some point.

"Ross," Laura said, catching up to him while he walked slowly to the soundstage.

"Laura," he replied, not looking at her.

"Have you been avoiding me? Whenever I walk in a room, you leave. The only times I've talked to you is when I've been talking to 'Austin.' What's going on?"

"Nothing's going on," he told her.

"Ross, don't try that with me. Tell me what's wrong."

"I can't, Laura. Just forget about it, okay?" he said. She sighed.

"Alright, fine. But you're telling me eventually." He swallowed.

"Sure." Lies, lies, lies.

"Okay, now c'mon. We have a kiss scene to film." She grabbed his wrist and picked up their pace.

_I will survive this, _he thought to himself. _It's not like I'm being dragged to the guillotine. _

"Okay, there you are!" the director exclaimed. "Places! Quiet on the set!" Ross and Laura went to their positions on either side of the counter in the Sonic Boom set. "And….action!"

"Okay, what's gotten into you?" Ross asked as Austin.

"I dunno…what's gotten into you and Riley?" Laura retorted as Ally.

Ross blinked.

"You're jealous of Riley," he said. Laura rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I am! All you ever seem to do is hang out with her! Have you seen the magazines?!" Laura picked up a prop magazine from the counter. "Everyone thinks you're cheating on me with her! I mean, I don't blame them. When was the last time we went on a date?" He swallowed.

"A month ago. But-"

"Yeah. And you and Riley are out together pretty much every day! What are you guys _doing_?!"

"She's helping me write an album for you, okay?!" Ross finally exclaimed, acting as though Austin had reached his limit. He took a deep breath. "You know I'm going on tour again soon, and yet again you can't come because you're working on your career. Riley's helping me write songs to put on an album to give to you. Then, if you're missing me, you can just listen to the songs about you. She's not replacing you, Ally. She's just helping me with some songs that won't even be released except for you."

"Really?" Laura asked, looking up at Ross. He nodded.

"Ally, you know all I want is you." This was it. Laura smiled up at him and started leaning over the counter, closing her eyes. Ross swallowed and did the same.

When their lips connected, Ross was almost positive his brain was about to explode. Kissing Laura for the show had _never _felt like this. Before he could get too into it, she pulled away. This was a children's show, after all.

"I love you, Ally," Ross said as Austin, trying to get fully into character instead of dwelling on that kiss with Laura. She smiled at him.

"I love you, too, Ross." Her eyes widened, and his followed.

"Cut!" the director said. "Laura, he's _Austin_, remember?"

"Right, sorry!" she replied. "It won't happen again!"

They did the scene another five times-Ross was completely distanced from himself and his feelings at this point, completely in character as Austin.

The pair pulled away and smiled at each other, and then the director yelled, "Cut!" and it was over. The stressful, end-of-the-world kissing scene was over, and it was time to go home. The cast just had to stop in their dressing rooms to get out of their characters' wardrobes.

Ross grabbed Laura's wrist and dragged her to his dressing room, and she let him, though confused by his actions. He pulled her inside and shut the door, locking it.

"Tell me that was just a mistake. Tell me it was a slip of the tongue and you don't have feelings for me because you're dating Riker and that would be insane," he told her. She swallowed.

"It was obviously just a mistake. Calm down." He leaned his face close to hers, so close she could feel his breaths on her lips.

"Don't lie to me, Laura," he said quietly. "_Please _don't lie to me. I'm already insane enough."

"What does that even mean?" she asked, shoving his chest to get him away before she did something she'd regret. "I'm not lying." Ross groaned in frustration and collapsed on the couch.

"You're lying to me. Laura, it's okay. Just…tell me the truth."

"Only if you tell me the truth," she told him. "What has gotten into you?" Ross stood up again and advanced on her faster than she expected. She took an involuntary step back.

"You wanna know what's wrong with me? I'll tell you. I'm in love with my brother's girlfriend, a.k.a. my best friend, a.k.a. _you_, Laura. And I'm avoiding you and stressed and terrified because, once again, you're my brother's girlfriend and you two are happy together and I can't feel this way about you, Laura, but I do! _That's _what's going on, okay?" He ran a frustrated hand through his hair.

"You're in love with me?" she asked. "Since when?" He took a deep breath.

"Since last night on the ride home. I don't know what happened, but…well, if you haven't noticed, I'm kinda going insane." He chuckled, sounding exhausted and nervous and almost _relieved _to get that off his chest.

"Yeah…" Laura replied. "Well, time for my confession. To put it simply, you're right. I thought I loved Riker, and that you were just a little complication, but after kissing you…I-I dunno what to do." Ross bit his lip to keep from smiling. This was _not _good news. He was fairly certain his brother loved Laura, and he didn't want to be caught in the middle of this.

"I don't know, either, Laur. This kinda sucks." She chuckled, too.

"Yeah. I wanna break up with Riker, but I know neither of us wants him hurt."

"Well, the first question is, do we wanna be together?" They locked eyes and nodded vigorously, resulting in a few seconds of laughing. "Alright and that leads to our second question: how're you gonna break up with Riker without hurting him too bad?" She shrugged.

"I don't know. That's kind of where the problem is." He nodded.

"Honestly, I think you have to rip off the bandage. I wanna be there with you, but he might think you were cheating on him with me and that would make everything worse."

"Yeah," she agreed. Then she swallowed nervously. "Think he'll be mad at me?"

"Nah," Ross replied. "I won't lie, he'll probably be pretty upset, but all he wants is for you to be happy. And if that's with me, he'll get over it and be happy for us. Besides, I'm his brother. He knows me and knows I'll treat you right." Laura nodded.

"You're right. He invited me over tonight. I guess I'll just do it there…" Ross nodded.

"Everything's gonna be fine, Laura. I promise." He pulled the short brunette in for a hug, and she wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.

"This sucks," she said quietly. "I feel like a terrible person."

"So do I, Laur," Ross replied. "But we have to remember that we can't help who we fall for. This isn't our faults. Blame the world." Laura giggled.

"Stupid world. Making me fall for my on-screen boyfriend and off-screen best friend whose brother I'm dating."

"How dare the world do that," Ross replied. "Poor boy, too. Falling for his on-screen girlfriend, off-screen best friend, and who his brother is dating." Laura giggled again.

"Gosh, world. Get your life together and stop taking it out on innocent teenagers."

"I love you, Laura. We're gonna be okay."

"Love you too, Ross. I know." She pulled away from the hug. "I'll see you tonight, I guess."

"Yeah. Or tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?"

"We're all going to Raini's, remember?"

"Oh, yeah! Cast movie night."

"Yeah. Think about it. By then, all of this will be over, we'll be together, and everything will be okay." Laura nodded.

"Bye, Ross."

"Bye, Laura."

She walked out of the room and Ross locked the door again to change.

* * *

"ROSS, GET THE DOOR!" Rocky shouted from where he was sitting on the couch in the living room. Right in front of the front door. Ross trudged down the hall, having been woken up from his nap. He scratched his bare chest and picked up a pair of sweatpants he was pretty sure were his off the ground and pulled them over his boxers.

"Right, make me wake up from my nice nap and walk all the way here from my room when you're ten steps away." He ran a hand through his already messy hair (he _did _just wake up, after all) and opened the door, a yawn forming before he could help it.

He closed his eyes and stretched, when a familiar voice came from the doorway. "Hey, sleepyhead." The yawn passed and he opened his eyes, leaning against the door way.

"Forgot you were coming. Rocky woke me up to get the door. So annoyed. Need sleep. Talk to you later," the exhausted blonde told Laura. She chuckled as he trudged back to his room to go back to sleep.

"Riker's in his room!" Rocky called from the living room.

"Thank you!" she called back, heading down the hall.

"Hey, babe!" Riker exclaimed when Laura walked in his room. "Didn't hear the doorbell ring!" He set down the bass he was strumming and stood up from his bed to hug her.

"Right," Laura said, hugging him back halfheartedly. She pulled away quickly. "Look, I need to talk to you."

"Uh-oh," he joked. "What'd I do?" Laura sat down on his bed, and he did the same.

"There's no easy way to say this," she said nervously. Riker blinked.

"You're breaking up with me." She swallowed hard, bit her lip, and nodded.

"I…I don't know when, but I-uh-well, I-um-Ross-and-" she stuttered.

"You love Ross, and not me," Riker said, knowing Laura well enough to understand her message.

"I'm sorry," she told him, close to tears.

"Shhhh," Riker said, pulling Laura in for a hug. "You can't help it, and I can't be mad at you for falling for someone else, even if he _is _my brother. You see him more, he's your age, and you two are good together." Laura pulled away to look at him.

"You're not mad at me?"

"Nah," he replied. "It hurts a bit, but I'll get over it. I want you to be happy, and Ross is gonna provide that happiness better than I could. If it isn't me, I'm happy it's him." Laura broke out into a relieved grin and hugged her now ex-boyfriend tightly.

"Thank you," she said, a few tears escaping.

"Hey, don't cry, Laur. I should be the one crying, yeah? And I'm fine." Laura giggled a little at this. "Friends?" Laura pulled away again.

"Of course," she said with a smile. "You're the best."

"You were really stressed about this, weren't you?" Riker said. She nodded. "You had no reason to be. I'm fine, you're fine, we're all fine. Shhhh…." Riker pulled her in for one last hug before standing up, pulling her with him. He wiped her tears with his thumb and smiled at her.

"Thanks. Again."

"Don't thank me, Laur. You okay?" She nodded.

"Yeah, I'm okay. You okay?" He smiled.

"I'm okay," he promised. She smiled at him, and his smile widened. "Now get the heck outta here and inform Ross that I'm not gonna kill him." She giggled.

"Yes, sir," she replied. She waved goodbye and walked out of his bedroom. He chuckled and shook his head before hopping back on his bed.

Laura walked into Ross's bedroom and giggled at the sleeping blonde. His hair was even messier than before, his blankets were all disheveled, and his eyelids were fluttering like he was dreaming.

She sat down on the edge of his bed and leaned down to press a kiss to his cheek. He stirred and she smiled as his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey," he said tiredly, his voice husky after just waking up.

"Hey," she replied. He rubbed his eyes and she giggled.

"How'd it go with Riker?"

"Really well, actually," Laura told him. "He said he was kinda hurt, but that he's glad it's you if it isn't him. We're still good friends and he wanted you to know he isn't gonna kill you." Ross broke out in a huge grin, the tiredness in his eyes disappearing.

"So, you're single as of now?" Laura nodded.

"That I am."

"Well, Miss Marano," Ross said, sitting up in bed, "then will you please do the honor of being my girlfriend?" Laura grinned.

"Yes." Ross smiled and pulled her into his lap in the same position they were in during the taxi ride.

"Seem familiar?" he asked. She nodded.

"Little bit. The moment your world turned upside down and inside out?" Ross chuckled.

"Yeah. The moment I fell in love with you."

"I love you, Ross," Laura told him.

"Love you too, Laur," the blonde replied. They smiled at each other for a while, the silence comfortable. Finally, Laura couldn't take it.

"Kiss me, already," she said. Ross grinned.

"Don't have to tell me twice."

He leaned in and crashed his lips onto hers. This time, there were no cameras, no time limits, no acting. They were Ross and Laura, new couple, already in love. Their lips moved in perfect sync, her arms finding their way around his neck and his already holding her around her waist as she sat sideways on his lap. She played with the hairs at the nape of his neck and he shivered, pulling away a bit.

"I love you _so _much," he said quietly. She smiled.

"I love you, too."

* * *

**Yeah, idk. It's based on I Want U Bad if you didn't know XD so if you liked it, put BEST in a review, if you thought it was okay, put NEVER in a review, and if you hated it, put HAD in a review. Thanks for reading and please review! Love you more than Ross loves Laura! **

**~Maddie :)**


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